Add to favorites

#Farm Machinery & Equipment

Locally built seeder “made for serious professional farmers”

WA-made seeder bar launched to market after 10 months of rigorous testing

Gnowangerup(WA)-based company, Duraquip has built a solid reputation in the Australian transport industry as a leading manufacturer of transport equipment solutions such as truck tippers, water tankers and more.

But the company, who also has over 110 years of farming experience behind it, identified a gap in the market for a durable seeder suited to harsh local conditions, and is easy to transport.

So it decided to dip its toes into agricultural manufacturing to create its newest product - the Seed Storm seeder bar which it said has been designed for serious farmers “who have a lot to do and want to do things well”.

Duraquip director, Garry Richardson, said the Seed Storm bar will tick all the boxes for farmers.

“Farmers are chasing efficiency. Times and seasons are changing, to the point that what was once considered a good start date for seeding has now become a finish date,” he said.

“We wanted to build a bar that would perform well in whatever conditions it had to work in and get a lot of crop in fast.”

The Seed Storm can be built to suit individual needs, with width ranging from 35ft to 80ft. The bar also offers spacing options of 10 and 12-inches and has a transport width of up to 7.5m for the 80ft model.

Some other key features of the Seed Storm include:

Flexible frame connections

Retractable tine system

Single lift cylinder controlling whole frame

Optional patent-pending castor lock system to assist with bar tracking

For Duraquip, transportability was a huge consideration when designing and building the Seed Storm. The development of a retracting hydraulic tine system and main frame lift has resulted in a manageable 7.5m transport width and road clearance on an 80ft bar.

“This makes for a lot of room to change points – you’re not crawling through a jungle of tines only just off the ground,” Richardson said.

“One thing we want to eliminate is uneven depth control. We developed a single cylinder hydraulic lift system which mechanically maintains the frame level 100 per cent of the time.

“The Seed Storm has a strong frame but we made it flexible enough so it would avoid cracking. It also has a floating drawbar, for contour following ability and excellent fore and aft frame stability. It rides where you set it, doesn’t twist into the ground, and doesn’t skate along the top either, even in exceptionally hard digging conditions.”

The Seed Storm 80ft bar features 20 large diameter, high flotation wheels, to keep it rolling with ease and offer excellent flotation across deep sandy or wet soils, Duraquip added. Rim patterns and wheel bearings are uniform across the machine.

All wheels are situated in front and behind the tine ranks and sit clear of the seeding area, hence maximising trash flow of the seeder.

Ease of maintenance is another key aspect of the Seed Storm, Richardson said, with long-lasting self-lubricating Gar-Max bushes used throughout the main frame.

Duraquip is holding a demonstration for the Seed Storm on June 25 in Gnowangerup and invites interested growers to take a look at the machine for themselves.

“One of the best I’ve seen”

Duraquip tested the Seed Storm in two configurations -80ft and 60ft for 10 months to gauge effectiveness and farmers’ response before officially launching it into the market.

Jase, an agricultural contractor from Queensland, was involved in the testing of the 80ft model and admitted he was skeptical of the bar at first, having worked with different seeder brands over the years.

Jase operated the Seed Storm bar in very dry soils, and said it sustained its performance in both sandy ground and the hardest ground he could find, as well as heady, rocky, clay ground.

“It blew me away,” he said.

“Most new products have teething issues but for something this quality to work straight away, that’s a feat in itself. It doesn’t move around, everything stays level, precision wise, it’s one of the best I’ve seen.”

“It folds up beautifully. It’s a big bar, but easy on the road too.”

Jase said one of his biggest concerns was pulling ability, but 30-tonne standard weight kits on a Versatile 620 Delta Track tractor solved that issue.

“It’s nearly a 100-tonne seeding rig when all the tanks are full and the Versatile loves it!” he said.

“Driving five inches into ground at 80ft with a total of 96 tines and 1200psi tine breaks certainly put the pressure on, but it was ripping like a deep ripper.”

He added the Seed Storm has one of the cleanest seeding airflow systems he’s ever seen.

“It’s incredibly smooth and streamlined, and any wear points are easily replaceable in the stainless-steel system,” he said.

“The trash flow is excellent. We ran it across header trails that had been missed baling, across broken bale patches, and through long wiry canola stubble and it just sailed through it all.”

After doing 4000ha with the Seed Storm, there’s nothing major to change or fix, Jase said.

“Operating it was easy, just a few tweaks around the adjustment area, but the seed placement is perfect.”

Duraquip said it is planning a limited production run for the Seed Storm for 2021 before full production the following year.

“The timing of our initial R&D program has coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic which has disrupted supply chains throughout the world,” Richardson said. “So, we’ll have to wait a year before fully gearing up.”

Duraquip has appointed McIntosh & Son as exclusive dealers due to the dealership’s strong dealer network and commitment to country towns.

“You only have to look at what they’ve achieved in bringing more professionalism into the business along with a strong sales team, excellent service back-up and huge parts support," Richardson said.

“And the fact they already were selling Ground Hog tine assemblies and seeding modules made it pretty easy for us to want to partner with them.”

Locally built seeder “made for serious professional farmers”

Details

  • Gnowangerup WA 6335, Australia
  • Duraquip